Deadly stabbing on Japan bullet train

Emergency services arrived at Odawara station to assist those injured in the stabbing

A man has been arrested on suspicion of killing a passenger and injuring two others in a knife attack on a bullet train in Japan, police say.

The fatal stabbing occurred at about 22:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Saturday on board a Shinkansen train travelling from Tokyo to Osaka.

Police detained the suspect after storming the carriage when the vehicle stopped at Odawara station.

The train was carrying more than 800 passengers at the time of the incident.

Officials say a male passenger taken to hospital with neck wounds later died from his injuries. The other two victims are both women, according to local media.

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What happened?

A bullet train at Odawara Station

The suspect, named as Ichiro Kojima, 22, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, a local police spokesman told AFP news agency.

Mr Kojima told police he had picked victims at random and had been armed with "multiple bladed objects" on the train, Japanese broadcaster NHK reports.

Witnesses said passengers were in tears as they attempted to flee in panic.

"All of a sudden, a lot of passengers were dashing... people panicked," one male passenger told the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun.

How common are such attacks?

They are rare in Japan, which has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the developed world.

In 2015, a man died after setting himself on fire on board a bullet train. A female passenger was also killed and more than 20 people were injured as the fire and smoke spread throughout the carriages.